Wednesday, 30 December 2009

Now xmas is over with it's time for a few Thank You cards. This one is made with a stamp my lovely friend Jaki got me for crimble. It's from the sketch on Mojo Monday.

I am challenging myself to use up some old papers before I shop more; these are ancient! I've also used a brad I've had for about a hundred years for the flower centre and a teeny scrap of ribbon. Starting my new year resolution to use up my stash early!

Monday, 21 December 2009

Today's card is rather appropriate for the present UK weather conditions (although there is no snow here - just as well as I walk to work and back!). I made this one for Grandad. Now Grandad is 90 but he always loves my hand-made cards and always says 'did you make that?' with an impressed look on his face. That makes me happy so I always make him an extra nice card. Bless him.

The snowman's scarf is coloured with Glimmer Mist for a touch of Christmassy sparkle :).

This one started out based on the Sketch Saturday challenge - I am entering it but as I ended up changing the layout a little I am not sure if it counts...

Friday, 18 December 2009

The Cupcake Craft Challenge this week was a really easy one - make a 5x5" birthday card. Here's my quick make using yummy scrummy BasicGrey papers and a new Hero Arts stamp which I absolutely love, love, love!

Also entering this for Charisma Cardz as it's not Christmassy in the least!

Am hoping my friend Nix is too busy to look at my blog cos this is for her birthday, which is on Christmas Day the poor thing. I made a really summery card because I wanted it to stand out among the Christmas cards - it must be hard to celebrate your big day when it's on Christmas Day!

Tuesday, 15 December 2009

This is a little scrapbook organiser I made for my friend as part of her advent parcel. I can show you today as she will have opened it by now.

I made up the pages in Adobe Photoshop using the same Spontaneous Delight Shabby Princess kit I used for my blog header. For the front cover I used a BasicGrey stamp coloured in part with Coloursoft pencils (how much do I love those pencils? One of my best ever purchases).

Now she can plan out all the pages (and more importantly, what purchases are simply essential to make them) my friend now has no excuse not to start that wedding album! I do hope you like it Alix!

Monday, 14 December 2009

Today I am sharing the Christmas card I made for my other half. It's using the sketch from Sketch Saturday. I'd been planning this card for ages and the sketch gave me the kick start for the layout I need - thanks guys! As it's Christmas card I am also entering it for Our Creative Corner.

The papers are BasicGrey which anyone who knows me will tell you are a total obsession of mine. I love these Wassail papers - they are last years but I couldn't bear to use them when they were new!!!

He is hard to make cards for - he doesn't like fussy, he doesn't like distressed and being a boy he doesn't like bling or cute either! I think I've cracked it this year though and am pleased with this one :).

It also fits the Winter Wonderland theme for Stamp Something (quite literally as I happen to have a stamp that says just that which I used here!). Creative Inspirations is non-traditional colours so I think it counts for that too :)

Challenge-tastic!

This one's for my Mum and Dad. I seem to be liking this mauve and white colour scheme this year for some reason - it is nice and calming I think.

The card is inspired by the work my friend - the amazingly talented Isabelle Norris - did in the Jan issue of Craft Stamper. I've used the same stamp set she did, by Katzelkraft, for this card. The background panel is stamped with two colours of Memento ink, the strip at the side is Cuttlebug-ged and wrapped with raffia. I've also stamped a Crafty Individuals background under the tree.

Saturday, 12 December 2009

I just finished making this Christmas Planner for Mum. The construction is based on one I made with Dyan Reaveley at AFTH last year and it pretty easy to make. I thought I'd share information on how to make one in case anyone is interested.

You'll need:-Some 6x6 Christmas papers (I used some old Papermania ones)-A4 cardstock (I used Stampin' Up! Old Olive and Very Vanilla)-Chipboard or mountboard - two pieces approx 6 1/4" square-Bind-It-All and o-wire-Optional: pearls, a holly stamp and swirl stamp, a computer to generate titles, border punch (mine is Fiskars), ribbon.

1 Cut covers 6 1/4" square from chipboard and cover inside and out with papers. As the book is slightly larger than 6x6" there is a border on the covers all the way around and I used two different papers on the inside cover.

2 Add a punched border, ribbon and computer-generated title to the front of the book. Don't add the pearls and bow at this stage - do this after binding.

3 Create the pockets from A4 card - you can get two pockets from each sheet. Cut in half widthwise and score and fold at the 5 7/8" point to make a pocket. I cut a notch from each to make it easier to get the notecards in and out (a tip from Dyan's class I referred to above).

4 Decorate the pockets. I stamped each of the pockets with a SU Rollagraph holly stamp and added a strip of red paper to decorate. The back of each pocket is covered with a trimmed piece of the 6x6 paper. Computer-generate titles for each of the pages (mine say cards, gifts, food, money, plans and misc) and add these.

5 Bind the book with an o-wire - I just punched once as it is lightweight and this saves on wires but you could punch all the way down if you prefer.

6 Make little pages to put into the pockets inside the book - the recipient will write their plans for xmas on these. The beauty of this is the tags can be replaced so the planner can be used over and over again. I simply stamped So Swirly (SU) over them in Old Olive ink and rounded the corners.

Friday, 11 December 2009

Ooohh feeling all festive this evening. Xmas music on, tree is up, a gingerbread Yankee candle is fragrancing the room, and mince pies have been consumed in larger quantities than are good for one's thighs....

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Unpacking the baubles I found these little trees I made last year at AFTH from Sandylion papers and a cute little xmas tree-shaped book. I didn't want to use it as a book so I made baubles out of it for the tree. You can see it in-situ in my oh so classy black tree - Matalan's finest don't ya know!

Tuesday, 8 December 2009

I did this layout a few weeks ago but haven't yet blogged it so am sharing it today. It's another one for my doggie album (well, albums - on the second one already!).

My baby is getting older and his muzzle is going a little bit grey as he does. He's still beautiful just not as puppy-ish as he once was...

I created the background by stamping with bubble wrap and acrylic paint - love that technique. The papers are yummy scrummy K&Co ones which were a bargain in Micheals back in Sept (oh my holiday seems such a distant memory already!).

Monday, 7 December 2009

This is my challenge card for this week's Sketch Saturday. No stamping at all this time - unusual for me. I haven't used this Sizzix snowman for ages but I like how this card turned out. I cut him out of glitter card so he looks extra snowy! The scarf was a happy accident - I put the die cut through the Cuttlebug folder the wrong way but I love how it looks.

Sunday, 6 December 2009

Another little project from AFTH. We created a tag with Claudine Hellmuth paints - which were beautifully vibrant and mixed really well, but I found them very unforgiving to work with.

I'm not really happy with this project - the colour palette isn't me and there isn't enough contrast between the background and the figure. It's good for me to go outside my comfort zone though and I actually finished it so I'm blogging it!

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

A bit of scrapbooking today. I made this page a few weeks ago for our team challenge on UK Scrappers. Lots of stamping on this one, using BasicGrey stamps mostly. The buttons are stamped with StazOn to make little embellishments.

It's another page for my Florida album which is finally nearing completion. Only half a dozen more pages to go....

Monday, 30 November 2009

I am soooooooo artistically challenged that I was not a happy bunny when on arrival at the Art from the Heart retreat this weekend Dyan announced that we would be painting - freehand!!

One of the reasons I love rubber stamps is because I cannot draw or paint for toffee. I have a GCSE in art but I cheated and did pottery, so really it's a GCSE in craft!

I'm still not sure about it but at least I did it and the sleigh does look quite festive on the hearth. Some of the shading and highlighting techniques were handy and I am sure I'll use them again. Not a convert to freehand painting though I am afraid...

Thursday, 26 November 2009

Today I thought I would share with you a little weeny bag charm I made ages ago. It's similar to one I created for Craft Stamper magazine earlier this year. It's created from a bottle cap and a Tim Holtz Fragment - the Fragment is stamped and coloured on the back and then glued into the bottle cap. I finished it with a little flower bead and some yummy pink crystals.

It's been on this bag sometime and it seems to be surviving pretty well!

Tuesday, 24 November 2009

Another card challenge; another Christmas card! This time I've used the sketch on Sketch Saturday - these sketches are really kick-starting my xmas card making (just as well really!).

I pared the sketch down a little as I wanted to make something I'd be able to duplicate a few times. It's all stamping again - the tree is Stampin' Up!, the background is a really useful stamp from Crafty Individuals and the greeting is from Stamps Away.

I stamped all the elements with a tri-colour Brilliance inkpad (Twilight) so it was really easy to make this one. Even the scalloped circle is inked with the pink part of the inkpad so it all matches perfectly. I love inkpads me!

The photo doesn't really do it justice - Brilliance ink is hard to photograph. Trust me, it's all pretty and shimmery!

Wednesday, 18 November 2009

I am back blogging again - well that's the plan! Firstly I am giving my online home a bit of a facelift and then I might actually get around to posting some crafty stuff...

To create my header I used a freebie digi kit called Spontaneous Delight from Shabby Princess. I'm not a digi scrapper but I do sometimes print papers and elements from digi kits to add to my paper projects. This kit is fab with lovely papers - especially good given it costs no pennies!